No Combat Operations

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said Friday he was rejecting a request from Kabul for 19 German Army soldiers to move to the country's embattled south with a Afghan battalion they have been training for the past few months.

Thomas Raabe, spokesman for the minister, said in Berlin the assistance was not an emergency and therefore was not covered by the current German parliamentary mandate authorizing over 3,000 troops currently stationed in Afghanistan as a part of a NATO-led international peacekeeping force (ISAF).

Germany's ground troops are only authorized to operate in Kabul and the north of Afghanistan, though the German air force flies reconnaissance missions above the fighting in the south.

Kabul had urgently asked for the 19 Germans as part of an Afghan Army infantry battalion based in Kundus in the north which is being redeployed to Kandahar, a province which is the scene of intense fighting between alliance forces and a resurgent Taliban.

The 19 Germans are among 60 German soldiers selected to train the Afghan unit. A German television channel, ZDF, has reported that the battalion is set to move out Saturday or Sunday.

Controversial request

Kabul's request was bound to be a controversial one for the German government which until now has steadfastly maintained that it does not want its peacekeeping troops embroiled in the growing fighting in Afghanistan.

Germany has elite special forces in Afghanistan but has never disclosed where they operate, though it is generally believed that the KSK commandoes are in the south in direct conflict with Taliban forces.

Germany's parliament needs to approve any military or peacekeeping deployment of its troops. The current Afghanistan mandate explicitly rules out German participation in combat missions.

Earlier last month, Germany sent six surveillance jets to Afghanistan -- amid misgivings among some opposition parties -- to photograph Taliban locations and support NATO forces on the ground.

Politicians want more open debate

On Friday, a few politicians raised doubts about the deployment and urged the government to openly discuss Afghanistan's request for troops.

"My spontaneous reaction is that this request from Kabul is not covered by the parliamentary mandate for the ISAF deployment," Karl Lamers, defense expert of the governing Christian Democratic Party (CDU) told the online site of Der Spiegel magazine.

Claudia Roth, head of the opposition Green party said Defense Minister Jung needed to inform parliament and the public about his decision.

"Such a request (from Afghanistan) belongs in the parliament and should not be clandestinely decided in the defense ministry," Roth said.